[says]"Alekhine is a player I have never really understood; yet strangely, if you've seen one of his games you've seen them all. He always wanted a superior centre; he manouvered his pieces towards the King's side, and around the twenty-fifth move began to mate his opponent...in a sense his whole method of play was a mistake". - Bobby Fischer.

Strange quote don't you think? If he started to mate his opponent at move twenty-five why was it a mistake? Wish I could make mistakes like that!!

 

The following game is, I think, particularly interesting due to the identity of the winner. The name may be familiar as Bobby Fischer's opponent in the very first game of his book My 60 Memorable Games. James Sherwin was a not only a contemporary of Fischer but also regularly played Reshevsky, Evans, Benko, Bisguier and the Byrne brothers back in the 50's and 60's. His tournament record includes some impressive performances including finishing 3rd in the U.S. Championship on four occasions and 4th three times!! Sherwin was never a leading chess figure in his prime and eventually pursued a career in international finance. After getting involved in a major Wall street scandal he decided he would be better off fleeing his home land and living elsewhere. Two years ago at the age of 65 he decided to retire to a village on the outskirts of Bristol. He is now a regular on the UK circuit and is lobbying hard to secure himself a place in this year's British Championship's at Scarborough! In the following game Sherwin finally stopped Arkell's unbeaten run which included winning all his games at Crewe and the Greater Manchester Winter Congress.

Arkell - Sherwin

25th Blackpool Congress (5) Slav Defence 

1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 Nc3 dxc4 5 a4 Bf5 6 Nh4 Bc8 7 e3 Bg4 8 f3 Bh5 9 g4 Bg6 10 Bxc4 e6 11   g5 Nd5 12 e4 Nb4 13 Be3 Bh5 14 Ng2 h6 15 gxh6 g6 16 Qd2 Bxf3 17 0-0 Bxg2 18 Kxg2 Qh4 19 Bg5  Bxh6 20 Bxh4 Bxd2 21 Bf6 Rh7 22 Rad1 Nc2 23 Rxd2 Ne3+ 24 Kg3 Nxc4 25 Re2 Nd7 26 Bg5 e5 27   d5 Rc8 28 b3 Nd6 29 dxc6 Rxc6 30 Nd5 Rc5 31 Nf6+ Nxf6 32 Rxf6 Rc6 33 Kg4 Kd7 34 h4 Kc7 35 Rf3  Ne8 36 Ref2 Nd6 37 Bf6 Rc5 38 Be7 f5+ 39 exf5 gxf5+ 40 Rxf5 Rxe7 41 R5f3 e4 42 Re3 Rg7+ 43 Kh3  a5 44 Rf4 Rc1 45 Rg3 Rh1+ 46 Kg2 Rg1+ 47 Kxg1 Rxg3+ 48 Kh2 Rxb3 49 h5 e3 50 Rf1 e2 51 Rc1+ Kd7 52 h6 Rb4 53 Kh3 Nf5 0-1

The process of home preparation

These days we are accustomed to read about Kasparov's much vaunted opening expertise. The following game, however, from the 1986 World Championship Match against Karpov sees him getting into difficulties precisely in that part of the game. Unwisely he repeats the same opening variation against his illustrious opponent that he had played just two games earlier. Once again his knight gets stuck on c8. In the earlier game Karpov failed to press home his advantage and played 14.Nb5 when Kasparov defended easily. In this game he improves with 14.h3! Kasparov quickly found himself in difficulties which he wasn't able to resolve. The game is decided as Karpov puts it entirely in the process of home preparation.

Karpov v Kasparov

London/Leningrad World championship Match (17)

1.d4 Nf6 c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dc4 6.Qc4 O-O 7.e4 Bg4 8.Be3 Nfd7 9.Rd1 Nc6 10.Be2 Nb6 11.Qc5 Qd6 This position was reached in the famous game between Bobby Fischer and Mikhail Botwinnik in the Varna Olympiad of 1962. The game was eventually drawn (see Fischer's My 60 most memorable games).12.e5 A theoretical novelty when it was played in game fifteen of this match. Botwinnik-Fischer continued 12.h3 Bf3 13.gf3 [13.Bf3? Qc5 14.dc5 Nc4] 13...Rfd8 14.d5 Ne5 15.Nb5 Qf6 16.f4 Ned7 17.e5. Here Fischer sprang a surprise on Botwinnik by playing 17...Qf4! 12...Qc5 13.dc5 Nc8 Karpov's twelfth move is justified by the tactic 13...Nd7 which would have been met by 14.h3! Bf3 15.gf3 when the e-pawn is invulnerable: 15...Ne5 16.f4! The position after 13..Nc8 is identical to that which occurred in game fifteen. Kasparov, assuming that there was no way his opponent could exploit the position of his knight on c8, was happy to repeat it. When I again set up the position on the board [after game 15] I managed to spot that the c8 knight's prospects can be significantly limited – Karpov. 14.h3! This is Karpov's improvement on game fifteen. He then played the inferior 14.Nb5 but Kasparov defended cleverly with 14...Rb8! 15.Nc7 e6! When Karpov was forced to lose time by retreating the knight back from whence it came because of the threat to cut of it's retreat by 16...a6. After 15...e6! Kasparov was able to re-cycle his c8 knight to e7 and so repaired his main positional defect. The rest of the game was: 14...Rb8 15.Nxc7 e6 16.Nb5 N8e7 17.Rd2 b6 18.cxb6 axb6 19.Bg5 Nf5 20.b3 h6 21.Bf6 Bxf3 22.Bxf3 Nxe5 23.Bxe5 Bxe5 24.O-O Rfd8 25.Rfd1 Rxd2 26.Rxd2 Rc8 27.g3 Rc1+ 28.Kg2 Kf8 29.Be4 Ke7 1/2-1/2. 14...Bf3 Apparently forced since if 14...Be6 15.Ng5 Ne5 16.Ne6 fe6 17.f4 with a clear advantage. 15.Bf3 Be5 Kasparov is a pawn up but it is of no significance. 16.Bc6! bc6 17.Bd4 Bf4 The exchange 17...Bd4 18.Rd4 could have led to Karpov's Rook quickly penetrating to the seventh rank: 18...Rb8 19.b3 a5 20.Rd7 Na7 21.Rc7 Nb5 22.Nb5 Rb5 23.Rc6 a4! With chances. Karpov gives a much more convincing line: 20.Ra4 Ra8 21.Ke2 Rd8 22.Rd1 Rd1 23.Nd1! The knight will find it's way to c4 which will result in the fall of Kasparov's a-pawn. 18.O-O a5?! If 18...e5 19.Ne2. 19.Rfe1 a4?! Trying for counter-play. 20.Re4!  

Karpov originally intended 20.a3 fixing the pawn on a4 so as to gang up on it. He rejected this idea because he was worried that after a subsequent capture of the a-pawn by his knight Kasparov's knight could improve it's position by jumping into b5 via a7 while Karpov's own knight would be stuck on the side of the board. He concluded that there was no reason to complicate matters in this way when simply centralizing his pieces is so strong. 20...Bh6 21.Be5 a3 22.b3 Na7 23.Rd7! The Rook will deal with Kasparov's queen-side pawns. 23.Bc7 would have provided Black with some relief after 23...Bg7 24.Be5 Be5 25.Re5 e6. For the moment Karpov prefers to retain control of the a1-h8 diagonal with his bishop in order to limit the scope of its opposite number on h6.23...Bc1 24.Rc7 Bb2 25.Na4! Nb5 26.Rc6 Creating a passed pawn as well as depriving black's knight of its support. 26...Rfd8 27.Rb6! Rd5 28.Bg3 Nc3 29.Nc3 At last Kasparov's knight, the source of all his problems, disappears from the board.29...Bc3 30.c6 Bd4 31.Rb7 1-0.

Analysis by Karpov. Commentary mine partly based on Karpov's. The game can be found in Anatoly Karpov's Best Games published by Batsford.

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The Pert brothers are well known to local chess circles; they were both members of the Ipswich club for a number of years. Nicholas recently played a six game match against former international Murray Chandler.

Please note: some of the following games are listed without notes. Be patient with me - I'm working on it!! Of course if there is anyone who wants to try their hand at adding notes to these games just send them to me (on the appropriate media) and I'll include them.

Terence Chapman Match London  September 2000

Round 1 Pert N [ 2455] - Chandler M [ 2526] 

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 c5 5. dxc5 O-O 6. Nf3 Na6 7. a3 Bxc3+ 8. Qxc3 Nxc5 9. b4 Nce4 10. Qd4 d6 11. Ng5 e5 12. Qb2 Qc7 13. Nxe4 Nxe4 14. e3 Be6 15. Qc2 Nf6 16. Bd2 Rac8 17. Rc1 b6 18. Be2 Qb7 19. O-O Ne4 20. f3 Nxd2 21. Qxd2 Rfd8 22. Rfd1 Qe7 23. Rc3 h6 24. e4 Rd7 25. g3 Kf8 26. Bf1 Qg5 27. Kf2 Qxd2+ 28. Rxd2 Ke7 29. Ke3 Rdc7 30. Rdc2 f5 31. Bd3 fxe4 32. fxe4 g5 33. Be2 Rc6 34. Kd3 R6c7 35. Rc1 Rc6 36. Ke3 R6c7 37. R1c2 Rc6 1/2-1/2

Round 2  Chandler M - Pert  N

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Qg4 Kf8 8. Bd2 b6 9. h4 Ba6 10. Bxa6 Nxa6 11. h5 h6 12. Ne2 Rc8 13. Qf3 cxd4 14. cxd4 Qe8 15. Rh4 Rxc2 16. Nc3 Qc8 17. Qd3 Rb2 18. Nd1 Rxd2 19. Kxd2 Nb8 20. Rc1 Qa6 21. Rc7 Qxd3+ 22. Kxd3 Nbc6 23. Nc3 Rg8 24. Nb5 g5 25. Rh1 a6 26. Nd6 g4 27. Rc1 Rg5 28. R1xc6 Nxc6 29. Rc8+ Ke7 30. Rxc6 Rxh5 31. Rxb6 Rh2 32. Rxa6 Rxg2 33. Ra7+ Kf8 34. Rxf7+ Kg8 35. Ke2 h5 36. Kf1 Rh2 37. Rf6 Kg7 38. Rxe6 h4 39. Nf5+ 1-0

Round 3 N Pert - M Chandler

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 b6 4. a3 Ba6 5. Qc2 Bb7 6. Nc3 c5 7. e4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Nc6 9. Nxc6 Bxc6 10. Be2 Qc7 11. f4 Bc5 12. b4 Bd4 13. e5 Bxc3+ 14. Qxc3 Ne4 15. Qe3 O-O 16. O-O f6 17. exf6 Nxf6 18. Bb2 Qb7 19. Qg3 Be4 20. Rad1 Rac8 21. Rd6 Rf7 22. f5 Rcf8 23. fxe6 dxe6 24. Bxf6 Rxf6 25. Rxf6 Rxf6 26. Qe5 Qe7 27. Bg4 Kf7 28. c5 bxc5 29. bxc5 Bb7 30. c6 Bc8 31. h3 g6 32. Rd3 h5 33. Bf3 Rf5 34. Qh8 Qc5+ 35. Kh1 Re5 36. Rd1 Qa5 37. Qxc8 Re1+ 38. Rxe1 Qxe1+ 39. Kh2 Qe5+ 40. g3 h4 41. Qd7+ 1-0

Round 4 M Chandler - N Pert

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. g3 b6 6. Bg2 Rb8 7. Qe2 Bb7 8. Nf3 Ngf6 9. Nxf6+ Nxf6 10. O-O Be7 11. c4 O-O 12. Ne5 Bxg2 13. Kxg2 Qe8 14. Qf3 b5 15. b3 Rb6 16. Be3 Ra6 17. Qb7 Qa8 18. Qxa8 Rxa8 19. cxb5 Rb6 20. a4 Nd5 21. Rab1 a6 22. bxa6 Nc3 23. Nc4 Rbb8 24. Rb2 Rxa6 25. Bd2 Nd5 26. Kf3 Bf6 27. Be3 Kf8 28. Rc1 Ke8 29. Rbb1 h5 30. h3 Nb4 31. Nd2 Nc6 32. Rc4 Be7 33. Ne4 Na5 34. Rxc7 Nxb3 35. Nc3 Bd6 36. Rc4 Kd7 37. Kg2 Rbb6 38. d5 Rb8 39. dxe6+ fxe6 40. Nb5 Na5 41. Rh4 Rh8 42. Rd1 e5 43. Bc5 Nb7 44. Bxd6 Nxd6 45. Rc4 Rb6 46. Rc5 Ke6 47. Re1 Nf7 48. a5 Rbb8 49. a6 Ra8 50. a7 1-0

Round 5 N Pert - M Chandler

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 b6 4. a3 Ba6 5. Qc2 Bb7 6. Nc3 c5 7. e4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Nc6 9. Nxc6 Bxc6 10. e5 Ng4 11. Qe2 f5 12. h3 Qh4 13. g3 Qh5 14. Rg1 Bc5 15. Be3 g6 16. hxg4 fxg4 17. Bxc5 bxc5 18. Bg2 Bxg2 19. Rxg2 O-O 20. O-O-O Rf3 21. Rgg1 Qf5 22. Qc2 Rxf2 23. Qxf5 gxf5 24. Rxd7 Rb8 25. Nd1 Rh2 26. Rd2 Rxd2 27. Kxd2 Rb3 28. Kc2 Rf3 29. b4 Rxa3 30. bxc5 Ra5 31. Kc3 Rxc5 32. Kd4 Rc8 33. c5 h5 34. Nb2 f4 35. gxf4 Kg7 36. Nc4 Kg6 37. Nd6 Rc6 38. Re1 g3 39. f5+ Kg5 40. f6 Kg6 41. f7 Kg7 42. Re3 h4 43. Re4 1-0

Round 6 M Chandler - N Pert

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Qa5 7. Bd2 Qa4 8. Qg4 g6 9. Qd1 b6 10. h4 Ba6 11. Bxa6 Nxa6 12. Ne2 h5 13. Bg5 Rc8 14. O-O Ne7 15. Bf6 Rf8 16. Qd2 Nb8 17. Rfb1 Nd7 18. dxc5 Rxc5 19. Rb4 Qa6 20. Nd4 Nxf6 21. exf6 Nc6 22. Nxc6 Rxc6 23. Rd1 Kd8 24. Qf4 Kc8 25. Ra4 Qb7 26. c4 Rd8 27. cxd5 Rxd5 28. Rxd5 exd5 29. c4 Rxc4 30. Rxc4+ dxc4 31. Qxc4+ Qc7 32. Qe4 a5 33. g3 Qd7 34. Qc4+ Kd8 35. a4 Qc7 36. Qd4+ Kc8 37. Qd5 Qd7 38. Qe4 Kc7 1/2-1/2

Although I've tried my best to eliminate any errors on this page if you find any I would appreciate it if you could send me an email about it at felixstowechess@lycos.com.

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